Sept/Oct 2020
Over The Top Burger Bar
2685 Buford Hwy NE #800, Buford, GA 30518
Opening day for Buford’s newest burger restaurant was two days before “Quarantine” arrived in March. Talk about a spilled milk moment, but thanks to the awesome community and a stellar restaurant concept, things have been sweet since getting the green light to re-open. Restaurant consultant turned restaurateur, Travis Binns and Ken Pellini teamed up with Executive Chef David Hartshorn to bring their culinary creations, amazing atmosphere and exceptional dining experience to Gwinnett.
We decided to check out their popular Jazz Brunch on a Sunday morning to see what all the fuss was about! Stepping inside it’s easy to forget you’re in a strip mall on Buford Highway. The smooth sounds of jazz from the four piece live band paired with the option of bottomless mimosas, or one of their three tiered bloody marys is the perfect combination to help you get over the hump of a wild weekend!
Their bar program is top notch, complete with a special brunch cocktail menu and a rotating craft beer list that gave our resident beer connoisseur some unique options to try. Like their name, the bloody marys are obnoxiously over the top! For brunch, there are three options that are tiered in size and price point. Don’t let the $50 bloody mary scare you, if you read the menu you’ll see that it comes with enough food for three baby hippos: two burgers, six wings, several sausages, a stadium pretzel, fries and other garnishes.
The menu is a creative combo of unique tastes. The brunch menu had a perfect mix of breakfast and lunch options and we tried a little of both. The famous, “Lincoln Wrecker” is their take on a LocoMoco Hawaiian dish. The two patty burger is topped with a fried island cheesy rice cake, homemade brown gravy, mushrooms, onions, fried spam and a fried egg. The egg oozed gorgeously when cutting into the burger and the fried rice cake was good enough to eat on its own. The combination of fried spam and egg made it the PERFECT breakfast burger.
We also tried the “Bacon-Onion Jam Band,” an omelet filled with gruyere, bacon-onion jam, house cured peppered bacon and drizzled with hollandaise. The addition of adorable mini waffles flecked with roasted pecans and fresh fruit–minus honeydew (apparently the chef is not a fan of the green melon) rounded out an ideal brunch feast.
The vibe inside is cool, complete with a video game lounge and board games to enjoy while having a boozy milkshake or funnel cake fries (yes, they have over the top milkshakes to make even the biggest of kids get a sugar rush). It’s apparent that these guys like flavors and aren’t afraid to mix things up! We want to come back to try the “Charlie Bucket” (think Willie Wonka-ish ancho chili chocolate and candied bacon) and the “New School Elvis” burger!
The staff, including the owner, make their rounds regularly checking on patrons and chatting up suggestions and stories to make everyone feel welcome. According to the staff “they love to eat, take their time and enjoy the company surrounding them. More than a burger, they offer you an experience, a connection between food and conversation.” We’d agree…they are truly over the top notch as the new kid on the foodie scene!